About Me

Gregg Walker is a Harlem Resident and 1997 graduate of Yale Law School who worked as an investment banker for 9 years and was the Vice President of Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions at Viacom for 3 years. Gregg served as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Sony from 2009 to 2016, and he launched his own private investing firm in July 2016 (www.gawalker.co). Gregg was chosen in 2010 by Crain's as one of NYC's 40 Under 40 Rising Stars (http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/40under40/profiles/2010/gregg-walker). Gregg is a Deacon at Abyssinian Baptist Church and served as the chairman of the Board of the Harlem YMCA. He has served on the Boards of movie studio MGM and music publishing companies Sony/ATV and EMI Music Publishing. He is also a Board member of Harlem RBI and Derek Jeter's Turn 2 Foundation. He is a former Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a representative of the US at the 2002 Young Leaders Conference of the American Council on Germany. Gregg is also a member of many other foundations and community organizations.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Concentrate NYS Prison Closings Upstate

Governor Cuomo should not back down from his efforts to close some of New York State's upstate prisons. Nearly all of New York State's incarcerated individuals come from the New York City metro area, while those individuals are incarcerated far from New York City, reducing their contact with family and friends and reducing opportunities for healthy re-entry.

Fewer closings and concentrated closings in New York City both represent the wrong approach.

By closing prisons in New York City, existing problems will be exacerbated. Given that prisoners come almost exclusively from New York City, having fewer prisons in New York City would result in even greater dislocation for those incarcerated as well as for their friends and families. Families of those incarcerated wish to visit and share experiences with prisoners, and moving prisons out of New York City will mean that even fewer families will be physically close enough to their incarcerated family members to visit regularly and inexpensively. The prisoners themselves have a healthier period of incarceration as well as a safer environment when they get regular visits from loved ones. The contact with the outside world promotes less traumatic re-entry and lower recidivism, thereby enhancing tax revenues for our city and our state while creating better lives for those seeking a second chance.

Governor Cuomo should both seek greater prison closings and concentrate those closings upstate. Our state's Republicans have benefited politically from the status quo - a system in which New York City residents and Black and Hispanic New Yorkers are sent to prison in large numbers in order to boost both the voting power and the economies of upstate communities.

The issue isn't just were the inmates are from but also the cost of incarcerating them. The small jails in NY are more expansive to run. Along with the fact that if you you moved The jails all to near NY, Yes the inmates would be close to there geographic home. Who is going to watch them in northern and western areas of the state Corrections Officers make good money. You take the same money to the city to try to live. Give the same employees a cardboard box they can't afford to live on that salary in NY. To this day almost all Corrections officers are hired from out west or up north and have to wait years to get transferred to a jail near home. If the money is so great and all these felons need to be near there home take the test, get hired, get divorced, die young, and don't forget have urine and feces thrown at you. THE JOB IS ALL YOUR!

We don't owe anything to this bunch of upstate Republicans, except the back of our hand. For one thing, it appears that these upstate prisons are nothing but training grounds for recidivism and various other abhorrent forms of poor citizenship. For another, Republicans want low spending and low taxes. Closing these upstate prisons will help us cut state spending there and since the economy up there will go down, so will their taxes. Give these upstate Republicans the low spending and the low taxes they want - right between the eyes.

Most inmates are better off away from their families and friends...some who just have not gotten caught yet! Leave them upstate where the fresh air might clear their brains out and make them realize city life gets them nothing but trouble.

ok why should anyone convience the inmates in nys did they convience their victims i dont think so, how about the victims family from the murder or rape that the inmate committed... i say move all the jails upstate and close all of the jails in NYC down. the land up in the north and west are alot cheaper then in nyc thats for darn sure

you hit the nail right on the head, when you said the inmates come from ny city. you cannot have it both ways, either keep jails all over the state so we all can benefit from the employment and return of our tax dollars to the local ecmony OR move all the jails to nyc (central park should do) and then take the five billion dollar dept of correction budget and have nycity residents pay it seeing how almost all inmates come from nyc

HELP KEEP NEW YORK CITY TRASH IN NEW YORK CITY. MOVE ALL PRISONS TO THE CITY AND TELL THE CITY RESIDENTS TO PAY FOR IT ALL. SAVE THE TAX PAYERS OF UPSTATE SOME MONEY. THEY ARE ALL YOUR RELATIVES THAT YOU WANT TOO BE CLOSE TOO ANYWAYS. YOU PAID THE BILL.

Inmates are incarcerated BECAUSE they committed a crime and are being punished. They gave up the right to convenient family visits. Contact with the outside world DOES NOT promote healthier living. Recidivism is DUE to going back to their old ways and old gangs. Republicans incarcerating blacks & hispanics to get their votes is an absurd idea. Inmates should not be allowed to vote (period.) And Hispanics & Blacks historically vote for Democrats anyway (you know, the give me everything for free party?). And as one who lives & works upstate, yes, we like the jobs the prisons provide. The drawback is that the inmates' "families" move up here to be close to their incarcerated loved ones and then we end up with the dregs of society living up here when they all came from NYC. If you want 'em, you can keep 'em down there along with their criminal families.

So we do have a consensus: we keep our lowlife downstate. As for you upstate losers not wanting to pay for prisons in NYC, you are SOL: anyone who is convicted of a criminal offense under state law must go to a state prison. Which means that you have to fork over. Personally, I'd say that we NYC residents will pay exclusively for prisons in the NYC Metro area so long as our state taxes are deducted accordingly.

I am not worried about "living with the dregs": as a NYC resident, I do that already every day. I also live with the threat of terrorism, which does not bother me one bit.

P.S.: I just learned that Buffalo is a mecca for collection agencies. I want Buffalo razed to the ground.